All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

Kiss your ice goodbye.

The Case

I really enjoyed the first Ice Age
movie. It wasn't as slick, well animated, intelligent, or clever as the average
Pixar film, but it had a number of other things going for it. It had lots of
energy, great chemistry between the three leads, and the kind of physical humor
we haven't seen much of since the classic animation era. Well, like every other
film from the past decade that earned back its production budget, a sequel was
inevitable. But does Ice Age: The Meltdown heat up a good franchise, or
leave the audience cold?

The first thing to note about Meltdown is that there's virtually no
continuity between this and the first film. Scrat makes another appearance, even
though he shouldn't be thawed for another few hundred thousand years. Perhaps
that's less important than the main premise of the film, though. The first film
took place at the onset of the ice age. The sequel is set shortly
afterwards—as the ice age is ending. Are kids to believe that the ice age
only lasted a year or two? At any rate, Sid (John Leguizamo, Land of the Dead), Manny (Ray Romano,
Everybody Loves Raymond), and Diego (Denis Leary, The Thomas Crown Affair) are hanging
around when they discover that the valley they have all been living in is about
to be 100 feet underwater. They begin a hurried journey to the other side of the
valley, which is slowed when they meet up with Ellie (Queen Latifah, Stranger Than Fiction), who just
might be the last female mammoth on earth. The only problem? She's been raised
to believe that she's an opossum. This is going to be a long trip.

Ice Age: The Meltdown is one of the most disjointed films that I have
reviewed for the site. Some parts are great, easily living up to the original
film. The chemistry between the three leads is still fantastic; John Leguizamo's
Sid still steals virtually every scene in the film; the ongoing misadventures of
Scrat remain hilarious as well, as everyone's favorite rodent is still trying to
store an acorn for the winter. There are a few pleasant surprises this time
around, too, such as a bold musical number from a pack of vultures.

Unfortunately, for every good sequence in Ice Age: The Meltdown,
there is one that's mind-numbingly bad. The whole Ellie character is frustrating
and pointless, since the "mammoth who thinks she's an opossum" joke is
funny for all of two seconds. As the wisecracks and sight gags go on and on and
on, it quickly becomes intolerable. It's a plot device that's insulting to the
intelligence of a three year old. Ellie's opossum brothers—the other
additions to the cast—bring little to the film aside from a light dose of
obnoxious antagonism. There are few moments with the new characters that I
didn't wish I could just be watching the original cast instead.

This chasm between the scenes makes it a more difficult recommendation.
Without question, young fans of the first film will find lots to enjoy here.
Even adults will enjoy a few of the jokes, but I can't imagine anyone walking
away claiming this is as good as the original. The script is to blame, I think,
and the cast is only able to save the production through the quality of the
original and the hilarious improvisation that they deliver.

Since I have reviewed a watermarked screener, I'm unable to judge the
quality of the transfer. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the
digital to digital transfer on the DVD is probably excellent. The sound transfer
was strong, though none of it leapt out like the ice popping opening of the
first movie. There are plenty of extras on the screener, all of which will
appear on the final product. Like the first DVD, there is a Scrat short, which
is just as good (if not better) than Ice Age: The Meltdown. There are two
commentary tracks, one with the director and one with way too many crew members.
There are some animation development sequences, as well as some new character
introductions. None of these show us anything new about the production process.
There are a handful of fake science videos as well, which are quite cute.

If your kids are big fans of the first Ice Age movie, the sequel is
probably worth adding to the collection. You won't like it as much, but there's
still lots in it to entertain the kiddies. If you enjoy animation yourself, I
would recommend Ice Age: The Meltdown as a rental. There is enough to
warrant one viewing, but it pales in comparison to the original.

I'm going to let this one go, but whoever wrote the script needs a good
solid smack for the Ellie plot.